Mechanisms of Regulation of Erythropoiesis during Experimental Neuroses

We studied the mechanisms of erythropoiesis regulation in a conflict situation and during paradoxical sleep deprivation. Plastic reconstruction of the erythroid hemopoietic stem during experimental neuroses is regulated by a complex multicomponent and multilevel system. This system consists of central adrenergic structures, sympathetic part of the autonomic nervous system, and α- and β-adrenoceptors on erythroid precursors and cells of the hemopoietic microenvironment. Erythroid cells receive instructive information from the central nervous system via adrenoceptors on cells of the hemopoiesis-inducing microenvironment and erythroid precursors. Hyperplasia (conflict situation) and suppression of erythropoiesis (paradoxical sleep deprivation) are associated with specificity of central adrenergic regulatory mechanisms.__________Translated from Byulleten’ Eksperimental’noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 139, No. 5, pp. 495–501, May, 2005     

Glycolysis and oxidtion enzyme activity in rat brain during insulin-induced hypoglycemia against the background of alloxan-induced diabetes mellitus

Children and adolescents aged 4–16 years with the diagnosis of acute respiratory viral infection with long-lasting fever, manifestations of intoxication syndrome, and catarrhal symptoms were examined. In children and adolescents suffering from frequent diseases and presented with acute respiratory viral infection we found disorders in the immune status (depression of the cellular component, helper/suppressor imbalance, suppressed production of IgA and hyperproduction of IgM, decreased concentration of secretory IgA in the saliva) in comparison with children rarely falling ill. The redox potential and lymphocyte cytochrome C content were decreased in adolescents often falling ill, while the content of cytochrome oxidase did not change. A negative multiple correlation (R=6.8, p<0.005) was detected between the decrease in cytochrome C content and NADP/NADPH redox potential and increase in the immunoregulatory index. ATP content in lymphocyte from adolescents frequently falling ill remained 21% decreased during the first 2 weeks after acute respiratory viral infection, while the ATP/ADP ratio was shifted towards dinucleotide, which also indicated disorders in ATP synthesis in lymphocytes.__________Translated from Byulleten’ Eksperimental’noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 139, No. 6, pp. 664–666, June, 2005     

Palsy of the rear limbs in Mycobacterium lepraemurium-infected mice results from bone damage and not from nerve involvement

A small but relatively constant proportion (3-5%) of mice chronically infected with Mycobacterium lepraemurium (MLM) develops bilateral paralysis of the rear limbs. The aim of the study was to investigate whether or not the bilateral leg palsy results from nerve involvement. Direct bacterial nerve infection or acute/delayed inflammation might possibly affect the nerves. Therefore, palsied animals were investigated for the presence of: (a) histopathological changes in the leg tissues including nerves, bones and annexes, and (b) serum antibodies to M. lepraemurium and M. leprae lipids, including phenolic glycolipid I from M. leprae. Histopathological study of the palsied legs revealed that the paralysis was not the result of direct involvement of the limb nerves, as neither bacilli nor inflammatory cells were observed in the nerve branches studied. Antibodies to brain lipids and cardiolipin were not detected in the serum of the palsied animals, thus ruling out an immune response to self-lipids as the basis for the paralysis. Although high levels of antibodies to MLM lipids were detected in the serum of palsied animals they were not related to limb paralysis, as the nerves of the palsied legs showed no evidence of inflammatory damage. In fact, nerves showed no evidence of damage. Paralysis resulted from severe damage of the leg bones. Within the bones the bone marrow became replaced by extended bacilli-laden granulomas that frequently eroded the bone wall, altering the normal architecture of the bone and its annexes, namely muscle, tendons and connective tissue. Although this study rules out definitively the infectious or inflammatory damage of nerves in murine leprosy, it opens a new avenue of research into the factors that participate in the involvement or the sparing of nerves in human and murine leprosy, respectively.     

Adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference systems for analysis of internal carotid arterial Doppler signals

In this study, a new approach based on adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) was presented for detection of internal carotid artery stenosis and occlusion. The internal carotid arterial Doppler signals were recorded from 130 subjects that 45 of them suffered from internal carotid artery stenosis, 44 of them suffered from internal carotid artery occlusion and the rest of them were healthy subjects. The three ANFIS classifiers were used to detect internal carotid artery conditions (normal, stenosis and occlusion) when two features, resistivity and pulsatility indices, defining changes of internal carotid arterial Doppler waveforms were used as inputs. To improve diagnostic accuracy, the fourth ANFIS classifier (combining ANFIS) was trained using the outputs of the three ANFIS classifiers as input data. The proposed ANFIS model combined the neural network adaptive capabilities and the fuzzy logic qualitative approach. Some conclusions concerning the impacts of features on the detection of internal carotid artery stenosis and occlusion were obtained through analysis of the ANFIS. The performance of the ANFIS model was evaluated in terms of classification accuracies and the results confirmed that the proposed ANFIS classifiers have some potential in detecting the internal carotid artery stenosis and occlusion. The ANFIS model achieved accuracy rates which were higher than that of the stand-alone neural network model.     

Effects of an educational program with interactive videodisc systems in improving critical thinking dispositions for RN-BSN students in Taiwan

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of an educational program with interactive videodisc systems (IVS) in improving affective dispositions toward critical thinking for RN-BSN students in Taiwan. A pre-/post-test quasi-experimental design was used. The IVS program was provided. A sample of 126 students was obtained from one nursing college. The California Critical Thinking Dispositions Inventory was used. The results showed significant differences in all dispositions toward critical thinking, except inquisitiveness, between before and after the IVS program. With the IVS program, the subjects are educated in situations simulating real scenarios prior to clinical practice so that they not only have opportunities to learn how to approach the problem, formulate thinking, participate in discussions, and solve the problem, but they also are willing to keep thinking critically during clinical practice.     

Comparing capsid assembly of primate lentiviruses and hepatitis B virus using cell-free systems

Many viruses that assemble their capsids in the eukaryotic cytoplasm require a threshold concentration of capsid protein to achieve capsid assembly. Strategies for achieving this include maintaining high levels of capsid protein synthesis and targeting to specific sites to raise the effective concentration of capsid polypeptides. To understand how different viruses achieve the threshold capsid protein concentration required for assembly, we used cell-free systems to compare capsid assembly of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and three primate lentiviruses. Capsid formation of these diverse viruses in a common eukaryotic extract was dependent on capsid protein concentration. HBV capsid assembly was also dependent on the presence of intact membrane surfaces. Surprisingly, not all of the primate lentiviral capsid proteins examined required myristoylation and intact membranes for assembly, even though all contain a myristoylation signal. These findings reveal significant diversity in how different capsid proteins assemble in the same cellular extract.     

Association between plasma activities of semicarbazide-sensitive amine oxidase and angiotensin-converting enzyme in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus

Aims/hypothesis Plasma semicarbazide-sensitive amine oxidase (SSAO) is elevated in patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes and has been implicated in the pathophysiology of diabetic late complications. The regulation of SSAO production remains unknown. We studied correlations between plasma SSAO activity and parameters associated with diabetic late complications.Methods Plasma SSAO was measured in a well-characterised group of 287 patients with type 1 diabetes. Standard statistical methods were used to investigate correlations with clinical parameters and components of the renin–angiotensin system.Results Overall, plasma SSAO was elevated, at 693±196 mU/l (mean±SD; normal controls 352±102 mU/l). Plasma SSAO was higher in the group with late complications or hypertension, and in patients treated with ACE-inhibitors. In univariate analysis a significant positive correlation (p<0.001, r=0.27) was found between plasma SSAO and serum ACE activity in patients untreated with ACE inhibitors or angiotensin II receptor antagonists (n=221), but plasma SSAO did not differ by ACE I/D genotype. Plasma SSAO correlated positively with duration of diabetes, HbA₁c and plasma renin, and negatively with plasma angiotensinogen and body mass index. A multiple regression analysis including these variables resulted in serum ACE activity (p<0.001), ACE genotype (negatively, p<0.001) and HbA₁c (p=0.023) as explaining variables.Conclusions/interpretation Results suggest that a common factor is involved in the regulation of both plasma SSAO and serum ACE, which is different from the genetic determination of ACE activity.     

高位和中间位肛管直肠畸形的治疗选择

目的 评价新生儿期后矢状路肛门直肠成形术（PSARP）治疗高位和中间位肛管直肠畸形的安全性、可行性及长期效果。方法随访113例高位和中间位肛管直肠畸形患儿,其中48例手术分Ⅲ期（结肠造瘘-后矢状路肛门直肠成形术关瘘,A组）,65例新生儿期行后矢状路肛门直肠成形术（B组）。根据改良Wingspread评分方法,肛管直肠功能分为“优”、“良”、“一般”和“差”。根据钡灌肠,肛管直肠角分为“清晰”、“模糊”、“无”;同时观察钡剂向外泄漏情况。肛管直肠测压测定肛管静息压,肛管收缩压及肛管直肠反射。结果A组,58．3％（28／48）的病例表现“优”或“良”;钡灌肠,85．4％（41／48）的病例显示肛管直肠角“清晰”,10．4％（5／48）的病例有钡剂外泄。B组,53．8％（35／65）的病例表现“优”或“良”;83．1％的病例显示肛管直肠角“清晰”,7．7％（5／65）的病例有钡剂外泄。早期手术并发症,A组为56．3％（27／48）,其中39．6％（19／48）与结肠造瘘有关;B组为29．2％（19／65）。A组与B组便秘发生率分别为47．9％（23／48）和44．6％（29／65）,污粪为47．9％（23／48）和50．8％（33／65）。结论新生儿期后矢状路肛门直肠成形术（PSARP）治疗高位和中间位肛管直肠畸形是安全可行的,且长期效果与Ⅲ期PSARP手术相同。     

Pretreatment with ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) as a novel pharmacological intervention in hepatobiliary scintigraphy

The purpose of this volunteer study was to investigate whether pretreatment with UDCA before the administration of (99m)Tc DISIDA affects the biliary excretion of the DISIDA, and whether it can shorten the total imaging time. Ten young, healthy volunteers (eight males, two females, mean age: 26.3 +/- 2.1 years) participated in the study. Hepatobiliary scintigraphies were performed twice per volunteer within three days, for the control and the UDCA-pretreated studies. In the control study, the gallbladder (GB) was observed first in four cases and the intestine was observed first in another four cases; in contrast, in the UDCA challenge study, the GB was observed first in eight cases. The quantitative results for the factors related to the GB differed significantly between the control and challenge studies. When the subjects were pretreated with UDCA, the time duration until visualization of the GB was shortened, and the maximum activity of the GB became more intense. In conclusion, UDCA pretreatment before hepatobiliary scintigraphy can shorten the total imaging time for evaluating functional obstructions of the cystic duct and increase the specificity of the process.